Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Clinical and Developmental Anatomy
Todd R. Olson, Ph.D., Course Director
Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology
Sherry A. Downie, Ph.D., Assistant Director
Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Dept of Anatomy & Structural Biology
Dept of Radiology
Dept of Pathology
Dept of Family & Social Medicine
Dept of Emergency Medicine
Dept of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Dept of Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery
Dept of Surgery
Dept of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery
Dept of Neurology
Dept of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health
Dept of Medicine, Division of Dermatology
Dept of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Dept of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Dept of Rehabilitation Medicine
Dept of Pediatrics, Division of Nephrology
Dept of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
20 †
4 †† & 5 †††
1 †††
1 ††
1 †† / 3 †††
3 †††
2 ††
2 ††
1 ††
1 ††
1 ††
1 ††
3 †††
1 ††
1 ††
1 ††
1 ††
1 ††
† 3 full-time faculty & 17 individuals with secondary or adjunct faculty appointments.
†† Lecturer
††† Conference facilitator or Dissection Lab Clinical Anatomy Consultant
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
21
14
19
† 3 full-time faculty & 18 Faculty from other Departments indicated above †† .
†† 20 Dissection lab faculty (16 anatomist, 4 clinical anatomy attendings) indicated above † .
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
The fundamental instructional objective of the course is to provide students with a clinically
oriented introduction to the structure, development, and function of the human body. The most
important instructional objective is to prepare students to apply their knowledge of anatomy and
embryology to the patients they will see during their clinical training and future careers as
physicians.
The specific learning objectives of the course are to facilitate and expand upon the students’ ability
to: (1) recognize anatomical structures, (2) appreciate their relationships and developmental
history, and (3) acquire a relevant understanding of the relationships between anatomical
structures and clinical care.
The initial goal of the course is to teach students the language of anatomy, an essential part of every
medical student’s training. A working knowledge of anatomical nomenclatures is also essential in
order for the student to locate information. Another major goal is to facilitate both the ability to
recognize anatomical structures and appreciate their developmental history and the acquisition of a
relevant understanding of the relationships between anatomical structures and clinical care.
Finally, the most important goal of the course is to prepare students to apply their knowledge of
anatomy and embryology to the cases they will see during their clinical training and future careers
as physicians.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Utilize orally and in writing the correct and common descriptive anatomical terms identified in
Terminologia Anatomica.
2. Demonstrate and describe the functional significance of structures, their anatomical relationships,
and their developmental history.
3. Demonstrate sufficient knowledge of surface anatomy to be able to palpate and inspect the
structures necessary to conduct a physical exam on a living subject.
4. Characterize the basics of diagnostic imaging and be able to apply them as an aid in understanding
clinical anatomy.
5. Detail the normal ranges of variability in anatomical structures found in the human body.
6. Apply relevant anatomical and embryological information to the study of other basic medical
sciences and clinical problems.
7. Describe the anatomical relation of medical devices or interventions evident on cadavers and detail
their purpose.
8. Reflect on the potential quality of life of the person at their end of life based on observation of the
body during dissection.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
9. Demonstrate an appreciation of diverse perspectives and alternative approaches to learning
anatomy, completing dissection, and problem-solving in the analysis of normal and pathological
conditions .
10. Apply interpersonal and communication skills important to cooperative and collaborative efforts
during development of dissection skills, completion of dissection , and presentation of
results/conclusions.
Lecture objectives emphasize structure and function, development, and clinical and radiographic
anatomy. Generally, lecturers do not recite the descriptive material covered in the textbooks.
Rather, the lectures are oriented toward an examination of the concepts required to better
understand and identify the structures studied in the laboratory.
Laboratory Objectives: The dissection laboratory is the natural focus of a clinical anatomy course.
It is the place where the bulk of the clinically relevant and practical learning takes place. Simply
put, the end product (objective) of everything taught in the course is directed at increasing the
informational content and value of dissection as a learning experience by creating a problemoriented, small-group learning environment that emphasizes self-direction and cooperative
learning. To these ends, laboratory objectives are designed to help to student to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Overcome any apprehension that he or she may have about a dead patient.
Acquire manual skills and familiarity with dissection and the use of basic surgical
equipment.
Learn OSHA approved lab safety procedures and practices.
Improve his or her powers of observation and ability to think differentially.
Acquire both an aesthetic and an intellectual appreciation of the human body.
Acquire a positive attitude toward the study of the human body and its many variations,
abnormalities and pathologies.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The course is organized according to the natural topographical subdivisions of the body. The
regions, in the order they are covered, are: Surface Anatomy, Back, Thorax, Abdomen, Pelvis &
Perineum, Neck & Head, Upper Limb, and Lower Limb. There are specific learning objectives for
each of these regions. The following is an example of the regional objectives covered in the lectures
and labs for the BACK REGION. At the end of this unit, the student should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify and palpate surface anatomy landmarks of the back.
Describe the distribution of nerves to skin of the back.
Demonstrate the features common to all vertebrae.
Distinguish the features unique to vertebrae from each region - cervical, thoracic, lumbar,
sacral and coccygeal.
Detail the features unique to individual vertebrae - C1, C2, C7, T12, L5, S1, S5 and Co1.
Characterize the joints of the vertebral column.
Draw an intervertebral disc and discuss its function.
Explain the ligaments of the vertebral column.
Demonstrate the movements of the vertebral column.
Outline the blood supply to the vertebral column and the spinal cord.
Discuss the spinal cord and its surrounding meninges.
Describe the organization of nerve roots within the vertebral canal.
Explain the composition and formation of a spinal nerve.
Distinguish the muscles of the back and discuss their function.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Clinical and Developmental Anatomy
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X†
† Two (2) MS-4 students are extending their time at Einstein by a year. Both are participating as
anatomy interns in the dissection lab where they teach side by side with the clinical anatomy
attendings and dissection lab faculty. Each student was provided an introduction to the course that
included: course objectives and the College’s Teaching Star manual. They received daily
supervision and feedback from the faculty and clinical attendings working in the dissection labs.
They will be evaluated at the end of the course along with the course faculty.
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
N/A
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
X Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
X Fill-in, short answer questions
† Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
X Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
† Surface Anatomy and Physical Examination Report. The first anatomy lab is devoted to
examining surface anatomy and the physical appearance of the donor. Each dissection team is
instructed to prepare a report describing their initial observations and presenting some wellreasoned hypotheses for the more unusual or unexpected findings.
† ARI. Each anatomy dissection team is required to complete an ARI (Anatomy Report on the
Internet) using a secure site on the course’s homepage. ARI is designed to increase the natural
interest students express in unexpected dissection discoveries and to direct them to further explore
the clinical relevance of these findings both to the physician and person who lived with them.
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
There is no formal mid-course feedback event associated with the course.
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
A Practice Practical (Mock Tag) Exam is conducted approximately one month prior to the first
scheduled laboratory examination. This exam is a self-assessment exercise designed to familiarize
students with the operational procedures and logistics associated with the laboratory examination.
Feedback is provided immediately following the exam, and guidance for improvement is provided
to students requesting help.
Online practical exams, including 300 questions, are accessible on the course homepage. These
online exams are realistic on-going assessment tools because they include questions, images and
answers for each of the practical exams administered since 2000. These exams not only provide
students with a means to assess their progress but also to prepare for future exams.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Clinical and Developmental Anatomy
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes †
No
† Narrative evaluations are sent to the Office of Student Affairs for only those students who have
failed the course. Evaluations detail areas of weakness and strength in each student’s performance
during the course and are provided to the senior associate dean for students to assist in counseling
and advising these students about their remediation options.
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
Faculty: Being in New York City, there are many well-trained and highly qualified anatomists who
are teaching at many area colleges and universities and are available for adjunct teaching. There
are also many retired anatomists who held full-time professor appointments at some of New York’s
most prestigious institutions, others are retired surgeons, and some are foreign-trained physicians
who want to teach anatomy while studying for Part 3. Lectures are delivered only by full-time
members of the Einstein faculty.
Facilities: Since the last LCME visit, the College has upgraded the anatomy lab’s ventilation and
air-conditioning systems and installed new student and faculty lockers. These were major
improvements that were immediately appreciated by everyone. However, support for computerbased resources needs some improvement. The educational audiovisual equipment in the small
classrooms and new Education Center is being updated. The quality of the projection and lighting
systems in the lecture halls is acceptable but needs to be improved if online lecture capture is to
become effective.
The amount of educational space allocated to the human anatomy dissection laboratories has
decreased in recent years. The decrease is mainly in office space for faculty and staff and in
appropriate ancillary storage space needed for supplies, models, and previously dissected
specimens. In 2013, the Dean commissioned a working group to review the needs for new anatomy
space, and the committee’s recommendation has become incorporated into the plans for an
Anatomy and Surgical Skills Learning Center in the Van Etten Building. Designs have been
submitted that will address the space issues mentioned above.
The students in our current space on the Forchheimer Building’s 6th Floor are still without
changing areas other than the lavatories, and the College did recognize the absolute necessity of
creating changing space for faculty, in particular adjunct faculty who come to the College to teach.
In 2009, the College renovated a 10’x 15’ room (B-22) in the basement across the corridor from the
Morgue to accommodate 22 lockers for our faculty. The room has been a welcome addition for the
faculty.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
At its meeting on April 9, 2013, the Evaluation Sub-committee reviewed the results of the student
evaluation of the Clinical & Developmental Anatomy course. This evaluation was completed by 182
students from the first-year class, using the eMED learning management system. This number
represents 100% of the students enrolled in the course this year.
Numerical Data:
Learning Objectives:
Organization of the Course:
Course eMED Page as a Learning Resource:
Course Web Resources:
Use of Appropriate Clinical Correlations:
Lectures as an Overall Learning Experience:
Labs as an Overall Learning Experience:
Range of Scores for Lectures (MD):
Range of Scores for Lectures (MSTP):
Conferences Overall:
Effectiveness of Peer-Assisted Learning Program
Availability and Responsiveness of Course Director
Quizzes:
Practical Exams
Written Exams:
Course Overall:
3.37 (3.07 last year)
2.88 (2.61 last year)
3.33 (2.75 last year)
3.39 (3.42 last year)
3.48 (3.47 last year)
2.35 (2.08 last year)
4.24 (4.06 last year)
2.64-4.18 (2.31-4.48 last year)
3.73-4.50 (3.83-4.00 last year)
3.41 (3.62 last year)
3.81
3.84 (3.65 last year)
3.03 (3.02 last year)
3.76 (3.63 last year)
2.97 (3.01 last year)
3.37 (3.06 last year)
Areas of Strength:
Major strengths of this course expressed in student comments include:








Laboratory
Lab instructors
Team learning
Practice practical exams
Clinical correlations
Team-based practical exams
Online dissector
Multiple learning resources
Areas of Concern Identified by Students:
Despite the major areas of strength noted above, student comments contained mention of the
following areas of weakness and suggestions for improvements:





Make lectures more relevant to laboratory work
Poor organization of material on eMED
Exam questions from review books encouraged memorization, not learning
“Roving” lab instructors not helpful, unneeded
Too many lectures
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine




Academic Year 2012-2013
Online Dissector needs editing/modification
Need lectures that help prepare for labs
Too many texts/resources
Embryology instruction fragmented, not enough, poorly taught
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome.
The students have consistently demonstrated that the course is meeting their needs and preparing
them for the clinical clerkships at a wide variety of affiliate sites. The Peer-Assisted Learning
(PAL) Program in the Office of Academic Support and Counseling, offers MS-2 students the
opportunity to mentor and guide MS-1 anatomy students and provides a particularly unique
insight into the relevance of the instruction provided in the course. Peer Assistants (PAs) report
that students taking the course are equally interested in the significance and relevance of what they
are learning as well as the importance of learning to identify structures. I also consider that the
amount of time and energy the PAs devote to preparation and helping their anatomy team are
indicators of the course faculty’s efforts to encourage students to become self-directed and life-long
learners.
The dozen adjunct faculty who participate in our dissection lab sessions, and also teach in other
anatomy programs in New York City, are highly complementary of the quality, organization, and
content of the anatomy course we offer at Einstein.
Some students continue to complain that there should be better resources provided to direct their
studying for exams, that the course needs to be “better organized,” and “the course needs a
syllabus,” etc. Anatomy is not only the first universally challenging course taken in medical school;
it is also the only basic science course that is taught largely as an abbreviated survey course. While
many students have taken biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, neuroscience and
other advanced biology courses as undergrads, few (I would guess less than 5%) have any prior
experience in a human anatomy course.
Further adding to the anxiety and frustration of MS-1 anatomy students is their awareness that
only a small part of what is known about human anatomy is being covered in this modern approach
to clinically relevant anatomy. My solution to this situation is to promote a structural framework
that pushes students to become independent learners in grasping the basics of clinical and applied
anatomy.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Academic Year 2012-2013
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Bioethics 1
Elizabeth A. Kitsis, M.D., Associate Professor (Clinical),
Departments of Epidemiology & Population Health and
Medicine
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Epidemiology & Population Health
Family Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Internal Medicine
Faculty (others)
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
3
1
1
1
19
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
7
19
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Identify ethical issues in clinical and research situations
2. Analyze ethical dilemmas in a sensitive and systematic manner using moral reasoning skills.
3. Recognize and discuss ethical issues associated with the information students are learning in their other firstyear courses
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Since the practice of medicine is an intrinsically ethical field, and ethics is integral to Einstein’s
mission, bioethics is a core component of the medical school’s curriculum. The bioethics program is
longitudinal in nature, so students learn about this subject throughout all four years of their
medical education. Where possible, bioethics topics are temporally linked to related sessions in the
basic science courses. In this way, students have the opportunity to identify and learn about the
many ethical issues that relate to topics covered in the other parts of the curriculum they are
studying simultaneously. Some bioethics sessions consist of a plenary session followed by smallgroup discussions; others consist only of small-group sessions. Bioethics 1 is a required first-year
course that provides students with a foundation in bioethics. It consists of eight monthly sessions,
covering fundamental topics such as professionalism, informed consent, decision-making capacity,
research ethics, and conflict of interest. The small groups are comprised of approximately 15
students, and led by one or two facilitators with expertise in bioethics.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Bioethics 1
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
N/A
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
X Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
Facilitators provide each student with mid-course formative feedback at the time that they evaluate
the student’s mid-course essay. The course is graded on a Pass/Fail basis. In order to pass, students
must receive a passing grade on the mid-course essay.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students. N/A
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
General and Cardiovascular Physiology
Charles W. Nordin, M.D.
Department of Medicine (Cardiology)
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Division of cardiology
Department of physiology and biophysics
Department of pediatrics
Department of surgery
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
14
1
1
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
9
13
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1.
Summarize important concepts of general physiology including membrane structure, basic principles of
membrane electrophysiology, synaptic transmission, general physiology of skeletal and smooth muscle,
cardiac muscle structure and function, and the autonomic nervous system.
2.
Explain the basic concepts of modern cardiovascular physiology.
3.
Describe how the cardiovascular system adapts in physiologic terms to aerobic exercise.
4.
Apply the physiologic principles to the pathophysiology of specific disease states such as basic
electrophysiologic abnormalities, valvular dysfunction, and coronary artery obstruction with loss of
myocardium (systolic dysfunction).
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The preclinical education in cardiovascular disease is composed of two parts. The first-year course
encompasses the basic principles of general and cardiovascular physiology. Although there is plenty
of detail, the course emphasizes a handful of concepts that all students of medicine should have at
their fingertips to think about cardiovascular problems. These include such fundamental ideas as
cardiac output, the cardiac cycle, and the generation of blood pressure, as well as important ideas
about control of the system. We will start from an overall picture, look at the basic physiologic
behavior of cardiac muscle and cardiac electrophysiology, and build the system. We will certainly
spend some time with major disease, but mostly to illustrate the important concepts of the
cardiovascular system.
The goal of the first-year course is to train students thoroughly in these concepts so that when they
reach the second part of the course, Cardiovascular Medicine, in the fall of the second year, they
will see how the specific diseases that affect the cardiovascular system work and how they can be
treated.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
General and Cardiovascular Physiology
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
x
x
x
x
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
x
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
Examination after first week of course.
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
No formal feedback except exam scores for the mid-term exam.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
General and Cardiovascular Physiology
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
X
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
There are excellent facilities at Einstein.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
See below for summaries of 2012-2013 academic year:
At its meeting on May 21, 2013, the Evaluation Sub-committee reviewed the results of the student
evaluation of the General and Cardiovascular Physiology course. This evaluation was completed
by 171 students from the first-year class, using our online evaluation system. This number
represents 100% of the students enrolled in the course this year. This report represents a review of
the numerical evaluations sent to you earlier, as well as a review of comments made by students on
the end-of-course evaluation.
Numerical Data:
Learning Objectives:
Organization of the Course:
General Physiology eMED Page:
CV Physiology eMED Page:
Textbook as a Learning Resource:
Course Web Resources:
Use of Appropriate Clinical Correlations:
Range of Scores for Lectures:
Lectures Overall:
General Physiology Review Lecture:
CV Physiology Review Lecture:
Case Conferences:
Availability and Responsiveness of Course Director:
Exams:
Course Overall:
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
4.60 (4.69 last year)
4.57 (4.65 last year)
4.34 (4.49 last year)
4.43 (4.77 last year)
3.65 (3.83 last year)
4.13 (4.17 last year)
4.55 (4.67 last year)
3.43-4.70 (2.46-4.89 last year)
4.57 (4.66 last year)
3.90 (3.75 last year)
4.49 (4.58 last year)
4.32, 4.32 (4.40 last year)
4.47 (4.48 last year)
4.54 (4.65 last year)
4.64 (4.69 last year)
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Areas of Strength:
Major strengths of this course expressed in student comments include:
 Organization of the course: “logical flow,” concepts integrated across lectures
 Interesting well integrated lectures
 “Great teaching” by lecturers
 Syllabi for each lecture
 Simplified, clear explanations
 Repetition/reinforcement of important concepts
 Excellent PowerPoint slides
 Case conferences: “well led,” “suggested answers posted”
 Attention to “big picture” concepts
 Exam: “very fair,” “tested understanding”
 Clinical correlations
 Interesting content
 Objectives for each lecture
Areas of Concern Identified by Students:
Despite the major areas of strength noted above, student comments contained mention of a few
areas of weakness and suggestions for improvements:




No concerns
Heart sounds lecture: unorganized, overwhelming amount of information, needs clearer
expectations
Too much repetition
Post updated slides on eMED
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome.
Regarding areas of improvement:
Heart sounds lecture: We are continuing to work on the lecture. I have also discussed with the
Office of Educational Informatics, who will help looking for an interactive web site for the subject.
Repetition: I believe repetition is a key to learning. Most students I think like to hear the concepts
repeated. Will consider this for next year’s course.
Updated slides: We will continue to try to get lecturers to give final slides before lectures begin.
Will check on updated slides next year.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Disease Mechanisms
Moshe Sadofsky M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Pathology
Department of Medicine
New York City Medical Examiner
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
14
1
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
3
14
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
1. Explain how various types of cellular damage evoke new programs of patterned responses.
2. Contrast the growth and repair responses with necrosis and apoptosis.
3. Distinguish acute from chronic inflammation, and describe the cells that participate in each.
4. Recognize how normal growth patterns are coopted by cells engaged in the less-well regulated
growth of cancer cells.
5. Be able to identify how the major pathways of inflammation, coagulation, and thrombolysis
influence each other.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
6. Recognize and explain how Darwinian selection shapes the host-pathogen interaction.
7. Integrate the many environmental influences that contribute to disease.
8. Recognize the costs, benefits, and limitations of laboratory tests in diagnosis and treatment.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
This course is more concerned with developing insight into the underlying principles that shape
disease rather than recognizing and naming individual diseases. We concentrate on inflammation,
neoplasia, and cell death. However we also lecture on medical-legal aspects of pathology, laboratory
medicine including bacteriology and statistical treatments of testing.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Disease Mechanisms
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
All teaching is at one site. Prior to each session, there is a one-hour of orientation.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes: NA
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
x
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
Only a single final exam is taken; however three small-group sessions allow for some informal
feedback from facilitators.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
None at the moment. I hope to create online teaching modules with some internal questions and
answers.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Disease Mechanisms
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
x
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
These resources are mostly acceptable. However, there are occasional IT problems in the small
spaces used for group meetings.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
At its meeting on May 21, 2013, the Evaluation Sub-committee reviewed the results of the student
evaluation of the Disease Mechanisms course. This evaluation was completed by 171 students from
the first-year class, using our online evaluation system. This number represents 100% of the
students enrolled in the course this year.
Numerical Data:
Learning Objectives:
Organization of the Course:
Course eMED Page as a Learning Resource:
Course Web Resources:
Use of Appropriate Clinical Correlations:
Range of Scores for Lectures:
Lectures Overall:
Review Lecture:
Case Conferences Overall:
Availability and Responsiveness of Course Director
Exam:
Course Overall:
3.49 (3.74 last year)
3.34 (3.61 last year)
3.80 (3.62 last year)
3.82 (4.09 last year)
3.99 (4.19 last year)
3.84-4.00 (3.39-4.39 last year)
3.55 (3.82 last year)
4.09 (4.22 last year)
3.48 (3.69 last year)
4.25 (4.36 last year)
3.62 (3.78 last year)
3.64 (3.89 last year)
Areas of Strength:
Major strengths of this course expressed in student comments include:



Use of current research findings (“exciting,” “fascinating”)
Good review of material, clinical application of broad concepts
Enthusiasm, energetic and dynamic course leader
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
 Interesting material
 Provided basis in pathology, important for future work
 Case conferences
 Organization
 Review session
Areas of Concern Identified by Students:
Despite the major areas of strength noted above, student comments contained mention of a few
areas of weakness and suggestions for improvements:









Course needs better organization/structure. Connections between lectures)
Too much repetition of material/little new material/overlap with other courses
Exam: not representative of lectures/unclear how to prepare/poor wording of questions
More coverage of diseases/diagnostic techniques used by pathologists
Lectures slides too detailed, cluttered
Too many readings
Case conferences not uniform, too long
Forensic lecture slides excessively graphic
No concerns
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome.
The Disease Mechanisms course underwent a significant reinvention this past year. Of the 14
lectures, six were presented previously by a faculty member who has recently left Einstein. As the
course director, I have taken the opportunity to give these lectures myself. This provided an
opportunity to completely reorganize the topics, a process that is ongoing.
Certain numbers are useful as discriminators of the reliability of the survey data itself. Notably, the
course review and the course exam scored more poorly with this cohort than in the previous year. I
find this interesting because both of these are substantially unchanged from the previous year! The
exam differed in roughly 10% of its questions, but these were modest changes and not major shifts.
I conclude that the largest source of variation is in the students themselves, i.e., the calibration of
their internal scoring sensibility. This is also supported by a few other observations. Availability of
the course director seems to have dropped, yet I was (if anything) more available, since I gave more
lectures and always attended every session. Similarly, the case conferences dropped in score, but
are nearly identical in content and were improved in several minor ways from the previous year.
Regarding the organization of the course, this is more of a quandary. Overall, it largely follows the
format of the Robbins Textbook of Pathology (first nine chapters). What we may be seeing here is a
reflection of the two competing and mutually exclusive intentions for the course. I have chosen not
to dwell on the factual detail already well covered in the textbook. I explain to the students that they
are responsible for understanding the material and that I might (and do) extract figures from the
text to use on the exam. In exchange for not simply repeating the text aloud, I can use lecture time
for supplemental material. I put great effort into presenting recently published scientific and
medical literature, often only days old, in lecture. This is added value that cannot be made available
in any text. I would say that over a third of the class loved this presentation style.
This year I did change my assignment style. I told the students to read an entire chapter of Robbins
as preparation for the lecture on that topic. That amounts to 40 pages of dense writing. This is
asking a lot, especially as the course schedule often has lectures on consecutive days. I can reduce
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
my reading request, and this will make students happier in the short run. It will not make them
better educated.
I am convinced that this course presents fundamental principles that are essential for the students’
medical education. We dwell in considerable depth on the mechanisms of universal themes;
inflammation, aging, neoplasia, pathogenesis of bacterial disease. This is not haphazard; this is a
survey of important issues. I will see if I can formulate "connecting" these lectures together in a
way that is more coherent, but I don't really see that student comments here are useful.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Epidemiology, Population Health, & Evidence-Based
Medicine 1
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Carol Derby, Ph.D., Department of Neurology and Department
of Epidemiology & Population Health
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Neurology
Department of Epidemiology and Population
Health
Division of General Internal Medicine
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
1
7
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
2
9
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course / clerkship, the student will be able to:
1.
Critically evaluate the medical literature.
2.
Work in a team to solve problems relevant to the interpretation of published articles.
3.
Participate in small-group sessions in a respectful and professional manner.
4. Discuss the difference between observational and experimental studies.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
5.
Define the design of ecological studies, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies and prospective (cohort)
studies.
6.
Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of case-control and cohort studies.
7.
Define the advantages of randomized controlled trials.
8.
Explain incidence and prevalence and how they are related.
9.
Calculate and interpret the Relative Risk.
10. Calculate and interpret the odds ratio
11. Discuss the role of bias in epidemiologic studies.
12. Define and interpret sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
EPHEM 1 is the first of two linked courses taught in years 1 and 2. The objectives are to equip the
students with the skills required to be critical consumers of the medical literature. In the first year
course, EPHEM 1, students are introduced to the science of preventive medicine and clinical
research methods. Basic methodology of epidemiology and biostatistics are introduced from the
perspective of population-based approaches to preventive medicine and public health/-prevention.
This prevention/population-based perspective is appropriate for the first-year students who have
not yet had clinical experience with patients. The students have the opportunity to apply concepts
of epidemiology and basic statistics to the interpretation of journal articles in small-group settings
(N=18-20), with a faculty facilitator. In EPHEM 1, each of six sessions focusses on a “case” based
on a journal article. Sessions include aspects of team-based learning, and case discussions, as well as
work in groups of 4-5 students on problem sets that involve interpretation of the data in the focus
article.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Epidemiology, Population Health, & Evidence-Based Medicine 1
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X (some
years)
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system. N/A
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
x
x
x
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
x
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided. N/A
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
Students complete on-line quizzes prior to each small-group session. Each includes immediate
feedback regarding the correct and incorrect answers. In addition, at each small-group session,
students have the opportunity to clarify questions.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Epidemiology, Population Health, & Evidence-Based Medicine 1
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
x
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
I am fortunate to have a core of dedicated faculty from different disciplines who teach the small
group sessions in the course. They bring a variety of perspectives to the focused “case” articles for
the small-group sessions, which are shared at the pre-class faculty meetings. This enriches the
material for all section leaders.
I am looking forward to using the new Education Center, as the current rooms are not ideal for
teaching in the small groups.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
Following are summary student evaluations based on a 5-point scale, where 5 is positive and 1 is
negative evaluation. 98% of students responded. Average scores greater than 3.0 are considered
strongly positive.
Course addressing
Learning Objectives:
Syllabus:
Lectures Overall:
Case Discussion Groups:
Mean Score for Case Discussion Leaders
(as effective facilitators of learning)
Exam:
Course Overall:
2012-2013
2011-2012
3.34-4.13
4.01
3.03-3.58
3.51-3.94
3.61-4.34
4.16
3.39-3.63
3.50-4.14
3.95
3.62
3.28
4.25
3.80
3.61
The course is being adjusted to increase small-group time and decrease lecture time, with a goal of
replacing two 2-hour lecture slots with small-group sessions.
A common complaint stems from the fact that the course is spread across the semester with several
gaps due to holidays and exam schedules for other courses.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
As the new eMED system is fully operational, the pre-session preparation will be able to be more
interactive and to provide better feedback to students prior to each session.
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
The major success is that the students tend to consider the course a positive learning experience,
and they do well on the USMLE Step 1 exam in the area of epidemiology/biostatistics. The students
rate the small-group session very highly and consider the final exam to be a good learning
experience tying together the course concepts. Students receive a current journal article to study
for the week prior to the exam. The exam is short answer/essay and calculations related to
interpretation of the article and its application to prevention.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Medical Histology and Cell Structure
Michael S. Risley, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy and
Structural Biology
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology
Department of Medicine
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
Non-faculty
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
3
1
1
16
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
4
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
20
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1.
Microscopically identify the organ from which a tissue section comes.
2.
Describe the contributions of structures at the cell, tissue, and organ levels to normal function and
homeostasis.
3.
Analyze and describe histological changes that contribute to specific disease mechanisms.
4.
Evaluate the medical literature regarding the histological basis of specific diseases.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
5.
Use anatomical terms commonly used in histology and cell biology to communicate ideas and engage in
cooperative education.
6.
Identify parameters important for the conduct of effective team and small group cooperative learning.
7.
Demonstrate presentation skills for effective communication to diverse audiences of relationships between
histology, cell biology and human disease.
8.
Demonstrate an appreciation of diverse perspectives and alternative approaches to problem-solving in
shared decision–making regarding analysis of normal and histopathological specimens.
9.
Apply interpersonal and communication skills important to cooperative and collaborative efforts at
development of microscopy skills, analysis of sections, and presentation of results/conclusions.
10. Engage in peer feedback from team learning cells to further your personal and professional development.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The course teaches the relationship of microscopic anatomy to cell, tissue and organ function by
integration of cell biology, molecular biology, histology and physiology. Changes in structure
associated with or causative of human disease are also introduced.
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Course title:
Academic Year 2012-2013
Medical Histology and Cell Structure
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
X Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
X Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
X
X
X
X
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
1. Two practical quizzes
2. Mid-term exam
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Medical Histology and Cell Structure
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Academic Year 2012-2013
Each lecture has embedded audience response exercises.
Four practical quizzes
Two formal course reviews prior to major exams
Laboratory problem-solving exercises to self assess microscopy analytical skills
Student formulated and administered practice tests
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
X
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
Both regular faculty and non-faculty students are exceptional teachers, as demonstrated by student
evaluation data. Annually, new teachers are recruited to replace teachers who stop teaching. All
new non-faculty teachers have been previously trained in histology by the course director and
evaluated as to their competency to teach.
The course is heavily reliant on technology in both the lecture hall and the lab. There are personnel
and administrative offices dedicated to the maintenance of these resources. Maintenance is
dependent upon a regular evaluation of the resources and commitment to repair or replacement.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
The following are averages of two years of student evaluations with 100% response rates for both
years. The scale is 1-5 with 5 being excellent and 4 good.
Course achieved Learning Objectives
Course Organization
Course Directors effectiveness
Course overall
Lectures
Laboratories
Exams
4.32
4.54
4.37
4.31
4.4
3.7
4.0
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
Strengths Cited in student evaluations:
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine





Academic Year 2012-2013
Course is well organized and expectations of students are clear
Interesting subjects presented by varied approaches
Excellent lectures
Labs and lab instructors are excellent
Formative quizzes
Weaknesses cited in student evaluations:


Timing of labs should allow one day between lecture treatment and lab
Labs should be shorter or less frequent
Summary:
This is a highly evaluated course in the curriculum. It provides entering students with an integrated
approach to learning relationships of structure, normal physiology and introduces structural bases
of disease mechanisms. It uses many pedagogical, active learning and self-study approaches in
consideration of diverse learning styles. The course encourages students to develop presentation
skills, analytical, problem-solving skills and self-directed learning approaches.
The only potential issue that may need to be addressed is the request by some students that topics
presented in lecture not be dealt with in lab for at least one day. The majority of students are
satisfied with lab however. The desire for staggering may be due in part to student absences from
lectures, which are important to the understanding of lab material that immediately follows. This
connection has not been formally studied as yet.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – Introduction to the
Patient
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Felise B. Milan, M.D. Department of Medicine
Daniel C. Myers, M.S.W., Department of Psychiatry &
Behavioral Sciences and Department of Family & Social Medicine
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science
Department of Pediatrics
Department of Family & Social Medicine
Department of Medicine
Department of OB/GYN
Department of Onc/Surgery
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
8
7
6
4
2
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions (physical exam instruction)
Other (please specify) workshop facilitators
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
4
28
21
29
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Conduct a medical interview:
Demonstrate ability to simultaneously elicit pertinent biological, psychological, and social
information, while building a therapeutic relationship with the patient.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
2. Recognize the relationship between biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors on health
and illness, and explain how these factors are integrated into patient care.
3. Identify personal and societal attitudes and values that influence doctor/patient relationship and
optimal patient management.
4. Describe and assess the efficacy of a patient's strategies for coping with stress and physical illness.
5. Write a succinct case history using standard format.
6. Give an organized, succinct oral case presentation
7. Identify and demonstrate behaviors and attitudes related to professionalism in medicine
8. Describe thoughts, beliefs and emotional reactions resulting from clinical encounters in written
essays utilizing reflection guidelines.
9. Demonstrate physical examination techniques of the heart, lungs and abdomen
10. Utilize feedback from peers and preceptors to improve medical interviewing, physical examination
skills and patient presentations
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The Introduction to the Patient course is one of two first-year courses that are part of the
Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) program. In this 22-session course, students begin to
develop the skills they will use in the clinical encounter with patients.
In addition to the clinical skills practice and development mentioned above, this course contains
content related to behavioral science. Topics covered include patient coping styles and mechanisms,
some basic psychopathology, the mental status exam, psychosocial impact of illness, cultural
diversity and spirituality, life cycle issues, particularly adolescent development and end-of-life, loss
and grief, health behavior change, sexuality, violence and substance abuse.
There are two afternoons of workshops devoted to broad social issues that intersect with medicine:
sexuality and violence. These themes are also integrated throughout the course.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – Introduction to the Patient
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
Yes
√
No
√
√
√
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
The course is taught on campus.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
√
√
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
√
√
√
OSCE or standardized patient examination
√
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations oral case presentations
Preceptor ratings mid-course and final
evaluations
Other (describe) patient case write-ups
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
Each student receives a mid-course, written evaluation completed jointly by both group cofacilitators.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
Each student participates in a small group co-facilitated by two clinical faculty, typically from
different disciplines. Students receive continuous formative feedback from both faculty and
classmates during class sessions. Each student participates in a 30-minute, individual, mid-course
evaluation session with one of the faculty members that includes feedback on a videotaped SP
interview and discussion of a mid-course formative, written evaluation that is jointly formulated by
both co-facilitators.
Additionally, the course has two online, open-book, open-access MCQ quizzes based upon lectures
and required readings related to skill development and behavioral science material that helps
students’ assess their mastery of course content.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – Introduction to the Patient
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
X No
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
A major task of the course directors, during each year, is finding enough qualified clinical faculty
to teach in the course. The significant time commitment, 3.5 hours x 18 = 63.5 hours, makes it quite
difficult for many of our faculty to manage heavy clinical demands and teaching on campus, but,
working with departmental contacts and by meeting faculty interested in teaching medical students
at the Einstein “New Faculty Orientation,” we have been able to recruit a full complement of
faculty for our course each academic year. We meet and screen all new potential faculty for
knowledge, and experience in teaching patient-centered, communication and looking for faculty
with patient care values consistent with the goals of the course.
We maintain a standard of competence for the faculty in our course by scrutinizing student
evaluations to identify specific teaching skills, such as quality and helpfulness of verbal and written
feedback and skill at facilitating group process.
We recruit content experts in the areas covered in the workshops (violence and sexuality).
In 2009, Einstein opened the 22,000 sq. ft. Ruth L. Gottesman Clinical skills Center with 23, 4station examination rooms in a renovated hospital, now an education and research building on
campus. This has made a tremendous impact on student access for extracurricular practice and in
eliminating travel times. The facility includes a digital audiovisual recording system allowing our
students to receive both formative and summative testing with SP encounters. The center has ongoing access to campus-based IT support personnel and remote access to tech support for the online
software (B-Line).
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
Because the course spans a 7-month period (September 2011-March 2012), each student is asked to
complete a mid-course evaluation covering the sessions in the first half of the course, and a final
evaluation covering the second half. This course has been consistently highly evaluated by students.
We have also instituted focus group sessions with recruited students following the conclusion of the
course. This allows for more expansive discussion of course objectives and teaching modalities and
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
allows us to gain an understanding of the informal student discourse about the course that occurs
outside of the classroom. We have incorporated several student suggestions into our curriculum.
One example is the brief, in-class and student-led discussion of the sample test questions, which are
assigned to content areas within the course. The questions and the student-generated discussion
reinforce the required readings and content information and helps prepare students for the quizzes
and written final exam.
Selected Data Related to Primary Course Objectives
1=Unsatisfactory…5=Excellent ( 5-point Likert-type Scale)
Learning Objectives
Confidence in Skills Learned
Psychiatric Ward Visits
Medical Ward Visits
Large-Group Sessions
Small-Group Session
Overall Ratings for Facilitators
Course Overall
2012-2013
(N=172)
2011-2012
(N=171)
4.11-4.27
3.62-4.40
4.14, 4.32, 4.34
4.25
3.59-3.80
3.47-4.11
4. 4, 4.5
4.12
3.87-4.26
3.66-4.49
4.11, 4.41, 4.39
4.32
3.54-3.92
3.51-4.14
4.54, 4.41
4.00
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
Successes
1) Significance and diversity of patient encounters
2) Opportunity for some in depth focus on relevant clinical topics through workshops
conducted by experts
3) Multi-disciplinary faculty
4) Faculty/student relationships – ability to provide safe, supportive environment for skills
development
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Initial stages of physical examination (PE) integration process
Inclusion of reflective exercises and essays
Increased rigor of both formative and summative standardized patient (SP) encounters
Development of SP communication and content evaluation checklists
Development of SP group as contracted, out-sourced program, including training,
evaluation and quality assurance of SP performance
10) Expansion of behavioral science curricular content
11) Development of objective MCQ examinations
12) Development of online, open-book, open-access testing protocol
Problems
1) Limitations in expanding course time to accommodate students’ request for more clinical
practice time for interviewing and physical examination (PE)
2) Lack of course time to cover more behavioral science content
3) Lack of overall curricular reform currently to provide ICM students with concurrent
course work (i.e. basic physiology) to enhance understanding of on-going PE integration in
ICM between years 1 and 2
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – The Clinical
Experience
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Felise B. Milan, M.D., Department of Medicine
Daniel C. Myers, M.S.W., Department of Family & Social
Medicine and Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Medicine
Department of Emergency Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science
Department of Family & Social Medicine
Department of Physical Medicine &
Rehabilitation
Department of OB/GYN
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
60
20
18
9
8
8
7
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Instructional Format
Lecture
1) Health Care Finance (2)
2) Public Health & Preventive Medicine (1)
Small group sessions
1) Health Care Finance (11)
2) Public Health & Preventive Medicine (11)
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify) clinical site visits
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
3
22
130
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize the role of public health and preventable causes of disease.
2. Discuss healthcare economics, financing and policies affecting the U.S. Healthcare system.
3. Describe the organizational structure of a clinical service.
4. Demonstrate skills of working with a team in the health care of patients.
5. Conduct a medical interview: Demonstrate ability to simultaneously elicit pertinent biological,
psychological, and social information, while building a therapeutic relationship with the patient.
6. Demonstrate proper measurement of vital signs, including blood pressure and pulses, on patients.
7. Use effective listening skills that recognize patients’ verbal, non-verbal, and contextual cues during
the performance of the physical examination.
8. Demonstrate physical examination technique of the heart, lungs and abdomen on patients.
9. Demonstrate effective oral communication skills with other health care professionals.
10. Identify the structure and components of a standard case presentation.
11. Utilize feedback from peers and preceptors to improve medical interviewing, physical examination
skills and patient presentations.
12. Demonstrate professional, respectful, and responsible behaviors with patients and other care
providers.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The Clinical Experience course is one of the two first-year courses that are part of the Introduction
to Clinical Medicine (ICM) program. In this 16-session course, students practice the skills they will
use in the clinical encounter with patients.
Learning takes place primarily at clinical sites within each program. Students are matched to
preceptors in 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 ratios. The main objectives are for the students to practice medical
interviewing and relationship building and oral case presentation skills, and to observe physicians
and other healthcare providers engaged in clinical practice.
The course is organized into the 10 clinical programs listed below.
Emergency Medicine
Geriatric Medicine
Psychiatry and Mental Health
Rehabilitation Medicine
Inpatient Hospitalist Program
Primary Care & Subspecialties
Pediatrics
Primary Care and Treatment of Substance Abusing Patients
Primary Care with a Focus on Urban and Latino Health
Women’s Health
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
In addition to the clinical site visits that are the main component of the course, we have two, oncampus sessions which involve all students in the course.
One session, entitled “Health Care Finance,” focuses on the financial structuring of health care at
both the individual patient and national levels. Speakers with expertise in health care finance at the
macro and micro levels lecture on this topic and physicians (11) with similar expertise facilitate the
small group discussions with students afterwards.
The second session, “Public Health & Preventive Medicine,” utilizes the healthy People 2020
Initiative as a focus. The Bronx Assistant Commissioner for the New York City Department of
Health, lectures on public health practices and policies, and clinicians with expertise in various
health care issues facilitate small group discussions.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – The Clinical Experience
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
Yes

No



If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
All preceptors in each clinical program within the course are initially contacted by telephone or in
person to review the course objectives and to discuss how the objectives might be achieved at a
preceptor’s site and with particular patient populations. Each preceptor receives a course syllabus
in which the goals, objectives, program description, procedures, expectations of students and
evaluation and grading criteria are explicitly stated. Each preceptor also receives the course
syllabus from the companion, campus-based course, Introduction to the Patient, to enable them to
follow and understand the clinical interviewing skills that are a focus of that course, and to aid in
the preparation of students to enhance their learning and skill development in clinical settings. (See
full explanation in ED-8)
Additionally, CME faculty development sessions are offered annually on campus and at selected
clinical affiliates to provide instruction on course objectives, expectations for faculty and skills
practice on clinical teaching, supervision, feedback and summative evaluation.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
 Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
 Presentations oral case presentations
 Preceptor ratings final, summative evals
 Other (describe) patient interviewing skills,
relationship building with patients, PE of the
chest and abdomen
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
Each student is required to keep a skills checklist with the clinical skills that preceptors are
required to observe and critique. One item on the checklist is a requirement that student and
preceptor have an explicit conversation about the student’s mid-course progress.
The course directors host on campus, mid-course luncheon meetings with students in each program
to get feedback from students about the experience at the sites and to assess progress toward skill
development and the satisfactory achievement of course objectives.
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
See response above.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Introduction to Clinical Medicine – The Clinical Experience
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
X No
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
This course requires a large number of preceptors in a wide variety of disciplines and clinical
settings within a specified time frame during which the course is scheduled (Mondays, 1:304:00pm), and must accommodate placement of 170+ first-year students each year.
Potential faculty preceptors are most often identified through consultation with program or site
coordinators who are situated within departments. They typically have supervisory or
administrative oversight of attendings who could be preceptors in our course. It is one of the
responsibilities of program coordinators to recommend new faculty to the course directors. These
recommendations from coordinators who are familiar with the course and expectations for
preceptors provide important screening for adding new community faculty to our rosters. We
follow-up with phone conversations or face-to-face visits to assure the feasibility and suitability of
these recommended faculty.
The challenge for the course directors is similar to clerkship directors in seeking to assure that all
of our faculty are providing adequate learning opportunities for our students. Faculty development
efforts, regular email and telephone communication and targeted site visits are strategies designed
to help address these difficulties.
Another mechanism to assure quality of teaching is through the dissemination of student evaluation
data at the conclusion of the course. Student assessments/evaluations of their programs, sites and
preceptors is collected by the course leaders and by the Einstein Office of Educational Resources.
Data are formulated into confidential tables, allowing each preceptor to see how their student(s)
responded on the evaluation, with comparisons for the class-wide and program-wide means.
Individual student comments are also sent to each preceptor. Students evaluate their sites on the
following items: a) sufficient exposure to patients, b) direct observation by and feedback from the
preceptor, c) enthusiasm for teaching, and d) overall evaluation of the site, among others. This
provides preceptors the chance to see how their student ranks the experience as compared to the
class means. These data form the basis for discussions with preceptors and program directors, and
preceptors who receive poor evaluations meet or speak with course directors and/or program
coordinators to discuss remedial strategies to improve performance.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
Selected Data Related to Primary Course Objectives
On a 5-point Likert Scale
1=Unsatisfactory…5=Excellent
Learning Objectives
Opportunity to Practice the Physical Exam
Overall Evaluation of Preceptor(s)
Additional Clinical Program Activities
Overall Experience at the Site
2012-2013
(N=171)
3.77-4.39
3.44-3.37
4.59, 4.43,
4.50
2.86-4.62
4.50
2011-2012
(N=172)
4.01-4.80
3.67
4.72
3.12-5.00
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
Successes
1) Students have significant input into program and site assignments via rank-ordered lottery
system
2) Many transportation options exist to help students travel to and from their clinical sites
3) Integration of the PE of the chest and abdomen has provided earlier opportunities for skills
practice on actual patients under the direct supervision of preceptors
4) Elective opportunities in oriental medicine and other CAM modalities, supervised home
visits and subspecialty opportunities have expanded, both within programs and course-wide
Problems
1) Continued need for faculty development regarding teaching, supervising and providing
opportunities for PE practice
2) Strategizing effective methods to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of skilled and
motivated preceptors
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine (MCFM)
Howard M. Steinman, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology
Department of Biochemistry
Department of Cell Biology
Department of Developmental Biology and
Cancer
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and
Women’s Health
Department of Genetics
Department of Pathology
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Medicine: Allergy
Department of Medicine: Cardiology
Department of Medicine: Endocrinology
Department of Medicine: Gastroenterology
Department of Medicine: Oncology
Department of Medicine: Hematology
Department of Medicine: Hospitalist
Department of Medicine: Infectious Disease
Department of Medicine: Medical Genetics
Department of Medicine: Pediatrics
Department of Medicine: Psychiatry
Department of Medicine: Rheumatology
Department of Medicine: Nephrology
Department of Surgery
Genetic counselors
Einstein medical students
Other (Pharmaceutical company, other hospitals)
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
1
3
4
1
8
2
4
2
1
2
2
4
1
2
2
1
1
3
3
1
2
1
1
5
9
2
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
28
58
0
0
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
 No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
By the end of the MCFM course, the student will be able to:
1.
Describe the principles of genetic transmission, including single gene disorders, polygenic
and complex traits, mitochondrial and epigenetic inheritance; list examples of defects in
each that lead to disease and compare the utility of family history, pedigree analysis and
population genetics in each type of genetic transmission disorder
2.
Describe the principles of gene expression and how knowledge of the coding, non-coding
and regulatory regions of the human genome can be used in diagnosis and treatment of
disease and in design of personalized approaches to medicine
3.
Describe the principles of genetic counseling and how family decisions are reached about
testing, dissemination of information and treatment options for disorders associated with
different defects in genetic transmission
4.
Describe the clinical outcomes, molecular genetic basis and potential treatments of sickle
cell anemia, thalassemias, cystic fibrosis, Marfan syndrome, Down syndrome, chromosome
22q11 deletion disorders, X-linked SCID and Huntington chorea
5.
Describe the cellular basis of the innate and the adaptive immune system and their response
to and recognition of antigens and pathogens: how each works on its own and how they
interface with one another, the functions and localization of the immune effector cells and,
for the adaptive immune system, the cytokine and other signals used for generation,
maturation, amplification, memory and termination of an antigen-specific immune response
to pathogens
6.
Describe how dysregulation of the immune system can result in disease for acquired and
congenital immunodeficiencies, hypersensitivity disorders, autoimmune diseases, transplant
rejection and graft vs. host disease
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
7.
Summarize the approach used in the rational design of pharmaceuticals and give examples
in immunological and neoplastic diseases in which rationally designed drugs were proven to
be more specific in action that drugs designed by traditional strategies
8.
List the mechanisms by which genomic stability is maintained, and cell replication and death are
controlled to achieve normal cell growth and repair, and the mechanisms by which these
homeostatic processes are subverted by tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes to promote
tumor growth and metastasis
9.
Describe the mechanisms by which metabolic pathways are regulated to achieve homeostasis—
genetically, hormonally, biochemically and by the environment—and give examples of diseases
arising from dysregulation in pathways of carbohydrate, lipid, nitrogen and energy metabolism
10.
Describe the role of nutrition in disease: the contribution of macronutirents and micronutrients
to health and give examples of diseases arising from caloric deficiency or excess and deficiency or
excess of vitamins or essential minerals
11.
Describe the principles by which clinical chemistry of plasma, urine and tissue metabolites and
enzymes is used in differential diagnosis of diseases and list examples from carbohydrate, lipid,
nitrogen and energy metabolism in which the biochemical analysis contributes to the diagnosis
and treatment plan
12.
Describe the differences between fetal and adult metabolism with respect to oxygenation, food
intake and waste disposal, how these differences impact pregnancy, delivery and neonatal health
and list disorders in which fetal metabolism or maternal health results in neonatal morbidity or
mortality
13.
Apply appropriate interpersonal and communication skills, including a recognition and
utilization of diverse perspectives and teamwork for problem solving, during small-group
learning sessions.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
Genetics: transmission, epigenetics, genome structure and analysis, genetic counseling
Immunology: molecular and cellular components, signal transduction, immunological diseases and
immunological therapies
Cancer: genetic, biochemical and cellular basis, conventional and rationally-designed drugs,
pharmacogenetics of chemotherapy decisions
Metabolism: energy, carbohydrate, lipid, metabolism, purine and pyrimidine and heme
metabolism, nitrogen metabolism
Selected topics in physiology: acid-base balance, water homeostasis, bilirubin metabolism
Selected disease topics: Marfan syndrome, blood transfusion, asthma, colorectal cancer, breastovarian cancer, diabetic ketoacidosis, fetal lung maturation, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease,
familial hypercholesterolemia, pernicious anemia, neonatal hypoglycemia, assorted inborn errors of
metabolism
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine (MCFM)
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
Yes


No


If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
N/A. Entire course is taught at the Einstein campus.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
 Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
 Fill-in, short answer questions (SOMETIMES)
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
MCFM has six exams over the course of the year. These examinations are a measure of student
performance and provide a means of feedback. Available in all courses for students who fail or
marginally pass an exam is counseling from the Office of Academic Support and Counseling. This
office provides advice on study skills and time management, among other education and personal
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
issues. In addition, for the first time this year, two quizzes will be given in the first MCFM unit
(Genetics, Genomics and Gene Expression).
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
[1] As noted above, there are six examinations during MCFM and two quizzes in the first MCFM
unit.
[2] In addition, each unit posts on our learning management system (eMED) MCFM course page
extensive material for self-assessment. This material includes practice questions, assigned reading
and web sites where assessment material is found.
[3] Throughout the course, audience response questions (TurningPoint Technology) are used in
lecture to assess student understanding. Students are not graded on their TurningPoint questions
but get immediate feedback on their understanding of the material tested.
[4] There is no formal assessment of students in small-group teaching.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine (MCFM)
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No

Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
Faculty: The faculty and non-faculty instructors have been more than adequate in their availability
and expertise. Since its inception, the charge of MCFM has been to be an integrated basic science
course. In that spirit, the instructional staff has expanded far beyond faculty in the basic science
departments from the courses that folded into the original MCFM. This spirit exposes the first-year
students to a range of basic science, clinicians and health care professionals. The breadth of this
exposure is illustrated in the list of “Organizational Units Participating” above.
Educational Space: Auditorium space in Riklis has been adequate. Rooms for small group
conferences have always been available. However, the size of the chairs and their armrests makes it
difficult for the ~20 students to sit around the table. New educational space will be available in the
Forchheimer Building for the 2013-4 academic and renovation of existing classrooms in the Belfer
Building is underway.
Computer Hardware and Software: These aspects have been adequate. In the past six months,
standardization of the computers in teaching classrooms and to installation common versions of
software on classroom and auditorium has begun.
IT and other support personnel: In the past six months, restructuring of the support network to
deal with the different needs of course directors has greatly improved existing issues of timely
response to requests for fixes and back-up personnel in case of sickness or assignment to special
events.
Major outstanding issues: A major issue is instruction of faculty for the existing and expanding
electronic aids for education. Given that faculty have limited and different availabilities for
instructional workshops, this issue needs consideration if the teaching staff is to make full use of the
new devices and new software that is available on our campus.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
MCFM receives student evaluations for each of its eight units. Student response is >99%. Although
the content of MCFM units varies enormously, common themes in student evaluations are seen,
from one year to the next and between units in a given year. The presence of common themes, [1] –
[4] below, is not indicative of our lack of attention to student evaluations, but rather a reflection of
perennial issues that students in their first year of medical school confront in a molecular and
cellular-based course.
[1] Organization and order of content topics
One goal of MCFM is to teach current topics that are the scientific basis of clinical medicine. This
goal means that any textbook will be out of date and means that the order of topics in a textbook
may not be best for the conceptual learning of MCFM. Although we regularly change the order of
topics in the genetics and immunology units, the students continue to criticize the order they were
taught as disorganized and not conducive to learning. We continue to listen to student suggestions
for an improved order of topics and continue to evaluate different texts for the genetics unit, which
is consistently criticized for poor sequencing of topics.
[2] Difficulty in “seeing the big picture”
This criticism usually appears as comments that students “did not see the big picture until they
were studying for the MCFM exam”. This comment may mean students are not keeping up with
the material until close to the exam. We take this comment seriously and have tried several
approaches. One is to include review lectures. Another is to include concept maps, which can be
particularly helpful in teaching metabolism.
[3] Insufficient study materials and practice questions
Every year we increase the number of study questions and web sites for self-assessment. We
accomplish this by searching for web resources and selecting questions for a study Q bank. Despite
this, students always report that the number of study questions was inadequate to prepare them for
the exam. This comment is surprising given that the mean score for most MCFM exams has not
changed over the past 10 years, generally being 82-84%, even though the number of study questions
has increased enormously.
[4] Insufficient clinical correlations
Students continually ask for more clinical correlations, despite our scheduling more clinical
discussions and bringing in more clinicians to give case-based vignettes each year. This criticism is
surprising given that student attendance in optional patient presentations on HIV, cancer, diabetes
and an inherited disorder (Williams Syndrome for the Class of 2106) decreases during the course
and reached a low of ~six students. That is, students are not taking advantage of opportunities to
see patients and to be exposed to clinical correlations and are criticizing MCFM for insufficient
clinical material.
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
[1] Since student evaluations of MCFM have not markedly improved in the past 2-3 years, and
since the numerical ratings are lower than Histology, Pharmacology or the organ-based courses
that begin when MCFM ends, the major successes are based on my evaluation as a course director.

Einstein student performance in Step 1 areas track to MCFM, Genetics and Biochemistry,
have been consistently high and have not decreased over recent years.

Clinical faculty readily accept invitations to bridge the gap between the molecular and
cellular topics of MCFM and patient presentation and management. Without prompting,
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
they tell our first-year students the importance of learning the molecular basis of disease
processes.

MCFM has been among the leading courses in adopting electronic and new teaching
modalities, aided by the fact that the current course director is also the assistant dean for
biomedical science education.
[2] One major problem to be overcome is the co-running of MCFM with the two most laboratoryand time-intensive courses in the first-year curriculum: Medical Histology and Clinical &
Developmental Anatomy. A frequent result is that students spend large amounts of time studying
for those two courses and less time studying for MCFM. Statements to this effect are found in the
student evaluations of MCFM, e.g., that the last MCFM exam was too close (two days after) to the
Anatomy final exams. Also, both Histology and Anatomy have faculty and non-faculty instructors
for lab sessions with 3-4 lab sessions per week. This arrangement is likely the origin of criticism
that MCFM does not prepare students for what is on the exam, is not organized, and that the
sequence of topics is sub-optimal for student learning.
[3] Another problem is the decreasing student interest in the genetic and molecular basis of clinical
medicine, in the research basis of medical advances, and in critical thinking. Evidence for this is the
decreased attendance at the five optional Pathobiology of Disease Seminars given in MCFM over
the six months the course runs. These seminars discuss specific diseases and disease mechanisms
that are part of the lecture and conference content of MCFM, often with Einstein-based researchers
reporting on their own research programs, mostly with a patient interview included. Attendance at
the last seminar, on Williams syndrome, was ~6 students. Additional evidence of a decreased regard
of MCFM as a relevant preparation for clinical reasoning is that about 10 students perform
markedly lower or fail the last MCFM exam, which is close in time with the Anatomy final exams.
These students pass MCFM without a make-up exam, because higher scores on the prior MCFM
exams raise their cumulative average. This “gaming” of the system shows a disregard for the
content tested in the last exam.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Principles of Pharmacology
Lloyd Fricker, Ph.D. Department of Molecular Pharmacology
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Department of Molecular Pharmacology
Anesthesiology
Clinical Pharmacy
Immunology
Geriatrics
Family Medicine
Infectious Disease
Oncology
Cardiology
Office of Education
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
2
3
3
2
1
1
1
2
5
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
11
18
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Upon completing Part 1 of the course, students will be able to:
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
1. Summarize the drug development process and evaluate the risks and benefits of using newly
approved drugs.
2. Compare how different drugs are absorbed, transported, and eliminated.
3. Define various pharmacokinetic terms.
4. Calculate how much drug to administer to a typical patient.
5. Determine when it is necessary to make adjustments to the dose depending on patient-specific
factors.
6. Relate knowledge of pharmacokinetics to clinical care.
7. Recognize the commonly used autonomic nervous system drugs, their mechanisms of action, and
their major applications.
Upon completing Part 2 of the course, students will be able to:
1. Recognize the mechanisms of action and major applications of drugs commonly used for cancer
chemotherapy, immunomodulation, and anesthesia.
2. Recognize the mechanisms of action and major uses of common over-the-counter drugs such as
antihistamines and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
3. Recognize the impact of drug toxicities on patient health.
4. List the types of adverse drug reactions and identify the patient-specific factors that can increase
the risk of these reactions.
5. Differentiate among the types of drug-drug interactions.
6. Summarize the basis for rational prescribing, including selection of the appropriate drug and
dose for an individual patient.
In the small-group workshops in both the 1st and 2nd parts of the course, students will be expected
to meet the following objectives:
1. Utilize terminology commonly used in the field of pharmacology to communicate ideas and
engage in cooperative education.
2. Demonstrate presentation skills and the ability to work collaboratively with peers in small group
settings.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
Part 1 of the course covers the essentials of drug action: “pharmacokinetics” (how drugs are
absorbed, how they move around the body, and how they are eliminated). ANS pharmacology is
also included in part 1. Part 2 reinforces the general concepts using representative drug targets and
discusses anesthetics, drugs in cancer chemotherapy, and several other examples. Part 2 also covers
drug toxicities, drug-drug interactions, and rational prescribing.
The majority of pharmacology education is not included in this course, and is taught in the various
systems courses in which drugs are dealt with in the context of the diseases for which they are used.
These include the courses covering infectious disease, cardiovascular system, nervous system and
human behavior, parasitology, gastroenterology, pulmonary, hematology, and rheumatology. We
feel that the basic pharmacology of drugs is best learned with their therapeutic applications rather
than in isolation.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Principles of Pharmacology
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Yes
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
No
X
X
X
X
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
Not applicable.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
X
Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
A mid-term exam is given halfway through the course, and the grades posted.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
In the course syllabus, each chapter includes 5-25 sample questions that are similar to those on the
examination and provide the students with appropriate practice. Answers are also provided in the
syllabus. Also, many of the lecturers ask questions during the lectures. Some use the audience
participation system (Turning Point Software) to tally the results. Other lecturers ask for students
to vote on various choices by raising their hands, or by verbally providing answers. For all three of
these approaches, the choices are then discussed and the reasoning behind the correct choice
explained.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Principles of Pharmacology
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
X
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
The faculty and other resources are outstanding.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
Student Evaluation of Principles of Pharmacology Course – 2013:
The evaluation of the Principles of Pharmacology course was completed by 182 students from the
first-year class, using our online evaluation system. This number represents 99.5% of the students
enrolled in the course this year. The evaluation employs a 5-point scale where 1= unsatisfactory and
5=excellent. In interpreting these data, means > 3.5 can be viewed as very positive assessments,
those between 2.6 and 3.4 as reflecting “adequate” ratings, and means < 2.5 as indicating
substantial dissatisfaction with that component of the course.
Learning Objectives:
Organization of the Course:
Course eMED Page as a Learning Resource:
Course Web Resources:
Use of Appropriate Clinical Correlations:
Range of Scores for Lectures:
Lectures Overall:
Review Lectures:
Case Discussion Workshops:
Case Discussions as a Learning Experience:
Availability and Responsiveness of Course Director:
Exams:
Course Overall:
4.04 (3.78 last year)
3.93 (3.66 last year)
4.01 (3.86 last year)
3.90 (3.40 last year)
4.12 (3.90 last year)
2.98-4.13 (2.10-4.21 last year)
3.71 (3.50 last year)
4.00, 4.47 (3.60, 3.01 last year)
4.13-4.17 (3.50-3.61)
4.05 (3.43 last year)
4.00 (3.32 last year)
4.38 (3.69 last year)
4.10 (3.67 last year)
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
All numerical data improved from 2012 to 2013. But rather than consider this as improvement, it is
worth looking at past data. The data for the 2013 course was comparable to levels in 3 of the 5
previous years. For example, the key data are:
Learning objectives
Course overall
2013
4.04
4.10
2012
3.78
3.67
2011
4.10
4.03
2010
3.80
3.73
2009
4.17
4.10
2008
4.32
4.30
The question then becomes what was different about 2012 and 2010 that caused their numbers to
be lower, rather than what was done between 2012 and 2013 to “improve” the course. The most
likely answer is that in the spring of 2010 and 2012 the course leader was preoccupied writing NIH
grant applications due in June/July of that year, and also busy in the role of vice chair of a Gordon
Research Conference (held in July 2010) and chair of the same conference (held in July 2012). In
other words, the course is strong and appreciated by the students, but the numerical ratings suffer
slightly in years when the course leader cannot devote full effort to the course.
The numerical ratings of the lecturers ranged from 2.98 to 4.13 in 2012; the lowest rating in 2011
was from a lecturer who gave two lectures in the 2012 course. The lecturer was replaced for the
2013 course, and the replacements came in at 2.98 and 3.12 (two lecturers). Although low, one of
these lecturers was new and will likely do a better job in 2014.
The areas of strength mentioned in the student evaluations generally matched those that were
verbally conveyed to the course leader during informal discussions. Students liked the clinical
relevance of the course and most of the lectures. Students liked the changes to the small group
workshops in 2013 (we doubled the number of facilitators so that each would have more time with
their groups, and we shortened the time for student-only discussions from 45 to 20 minutes).
The only areas of concern raised by five or more students in 2013 were on the following topics:
1) The cancer drug lectures.
2) Some of the ANS lectures (specifically the lectures on adrenergic agonists and antagonists).
For both of these lectures, students commented that the lectures were too focused on specifics and
didn’t cover enough of the drugs listed on the “drugs to know” list (this list was started ~20 years
ago to limit the amount of memorization required by the students and allow them to focus only on
the key drugs likely to be on the board exams). Some students didn’t like it when the lecturer said
“You can read about these drugs in the syllabus and/or textbook” and then focused the lecture on
only a subset of the drugs.
The cancer drug lectures received 16 negative comments, most of which were from students who
didn’t like it that the lecturer spent ~30 minutes of her time discussing the discovery of Taxol. This
lecturer has been invited to other medical schools specifically to give this lecture to medical
students. The students should be appreciative that such an eminent scientist is willing to take the
time to lecture in the course, and they should be able to read a book and syllabus to learn about the
other drugs not extensively covered in the lecture. Most importantly, many students commented to
the course leader that they enjoyed the lecture, and some of these positive comments made it into
the anonymous evaluations. For example, one student wrote “While I’ve heard my classmates gripe
about [the cancer drug lecture], PLEASE keep it in the curriculum! It was great!” Ultimately, 16
students gave this lecturer a 5, and 42 gave a 4.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Similarly, the ANS lectures that received the most negative comments (6 total) were rated by 23
students as a 5 and by 56 students as a 4. And, many students liked the interactive nature of these
lectures, even if this did take time away from covering all of the drugs on the list.
In summary, the major strengths of the course are its clinical relevance, most of the lecturers, and
the case-based workshop sessions. The only major weakness was the perception by some students
that a couple of the lectures were not highly relevant to the board exams. But, because many of the
students appreciated these lectures, no fundamental changes are planned for 2014.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
PART B. REQUIRED COURSE FORM
Course title:
Name (departmental
affiliation) of course director:
Renal System
Amanda C. Raff, M.D., Department of Medicine (Nephrology)
List the organizational units (e.g., Department of Physiology, library) with teaching staff (faculty/others)
who participate in the course and the number of teaching staff from each unit.
Organizational Units Participating
Medicine – lead department
Pathology
Pediatrics
Radiology
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
27
7
8
1
List the number of teaching staff involved in each type of educational session offered in the course. A
given individual may be listed more than once:
Number of
Teaching Staff Involved
14
38
3
Instructional Format
Lecture
Small group sessions
Laboratory sessions
Other (please specify)
Course Objectives
Are there written objectives for the course? (check)
Yes
X No
Provide a sample of about 10 learning objectives, including a selection of those related to knowledge,
skills (including cognitive skills), and professional behaviors (as relevant).
Course Objectives: By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Discuss renal gross anatomy and relationship of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
2. Outline the histology and function of the nephron from the glomerulus through the tubule (proximal
tubule, loop of Henle, and distal tubule) including the specialized cells and transporters in each
component that contribute to the creation of urine.
3. Summarize the contribution of the kidney to the maintenance of body homeostasis in terms of
electrolyte balance, body volumes and osmolality, and regulation of pH.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
4. Review the major hormones that act on the nephron and summarize their actions including renin,
angiotensin II, aldosterone, antidiuretic hormone, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, atrial
natriuretic peptide
5. Describe the ways in which alteration of normal nephron function result in abnormalities of
electrolyte balance, body volumes and osmolality, and regulation of pH.
6. Describe the mechanism of action and appropriate uses for the major drug classes used to treat
disorders of the renal system including diuretics, inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system,
agonists and antagonists of antidiuretic hormone, vitamin D agonists, calcimimetic agents, phosphate
binders, erythropoietin stimulating agents, steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, antimetabolites, and mTOR
inhibitors.
7. Recognize the gross and microscopic appearance of kidney diseases.
8. Explain the structure / function relationship of pathologic changes to clinical disease manifestations
of kidney diseases.
9. Describe the clinical expression, diagnosis and fundamentals of treatment approaches to glomerular,
tubular, interstitial, and vascular diseases of the kidney.
10. Explain the fundamentals of treatment for chronic kidney disease and end stage kidney disease
including CKD care, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation.
Briefly summarize the content areas covered in the course, if not evident from the course title.
The Renal System course covers normal physiology, pathophysiology, pathology, and clinical
diseases associated with the kidney, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Renal System
Preparation for Teaching
Are any of the following involved in the course as lecturers, small group facilitators, and/or laboratory
instructors?
Residents
Graduate
Students
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Medical
Students
Yes
X
No
X
X
X
If the entire course is taught at more than one site (e.g., at geographically separated instructional sites),
describe how instructional staff at all sites are oriented to the course objectives, the methods of
assessment, and the grading system.
Student Assessment
If NBME subject (shelf) examinations or customized NBME examinations are used, give the mean scores
for the last three classes:
2011-12
Year:
N/A
Score:
N/A
Percentile*
* National percentile, if relevant
2012-13
N/A
N/A
2013-14
N/A
N/A
Check all the formats that are used in assessments or other evaluations that students must complete:
X Multiple-choice, true/false, matching questions
Fill-in, short answer questions
Essay questions or papers
Oral exams
OSCE or standardized patient examination
Laboratory practical items
Problem-solving written exercises
Presentations
Preceptor ratings
Other (describe)
Describe the mechanisms to ensure that mid-course feedback is provided.
The Renal System course is a large lecture format course. There are seven small-group sessions,
however the students do not have the same preceptor for more than one conference. Therefore, no
narrative summary of student performance is provided in this course. However, the students take
two exams, the first of which is at the mid-point in the course. The exam score provides feedback to
the students on how they are doing. After the exam the course director informs the entire class by
both email and in person in the lecture hall of the score spread as well as the cut-off score that
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
indicates the student may be in academic difficulty with the material. All students who score less
than 70% are strongly encouraged to schedule a 1:1 meeting with the course director. In addition,
all students who score > 70% are also welcome to schedule a meeting with the course director to
discuss their progress, if desired.
List the types of formative assessments that are available during the course (practice examinations,
quizzes, observed clinical skills with feedback). In courses with small-group teaching or 1:1 sessions
with a preceptor, describe how mid-course feedback is provided to students.
Self-study question modules on topics including the Concept of Clearance, Acid/Base Physiology
and Pathophysiology, Potassium Disorders, and Tubulointerstitial Diseases.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
REQUIRED COURSE FORM (Continued)
Course title:
Renal System
Is there a narrative assessment of student performance that is used for formative (feedback) or summative
(a component of the course grade) purposes? (check)
Yes
No
X
Course Outcomes/Evaluation
Comment on the adequacy of faculty and other resources to teach the course (e.g., educational space,
computer hardware and software, IT and other support personnel).
Support for the Renal System course is excellent. A wide variety of faculty participate in the course
as lecturers and small-group preceptors. The faculty are enthusiastic and receive excellent teaching
scores form the students on the end of course evaluation. Ideal educational space and computer
resources are provided for lectures, small-group sessions, and the gross organ demo lab. The
course syllabus is maintained online. Support personnel from the Office of Instructional Support
Services are proactive and responsive.
Provide a summary of student feedback on the course (and any other available evaluation data) for the
past two academic years; include the percent of students providing evaluation data. If the course is new
or has been significantly revised, provide evaluation data for the new version of the course only. If
problems have been identified by student evaluations or other data, describe how they are being
addressed.
Students are asked to fill out an evaluation of the Renal System Course after completing the second
exam. For 2012, 99.5% of the students completed the evaluation. For 2013 100% completed the
evaluation. The numeric scores are a 5-point Likert Scale where 1 = unsatisfactory and 5 =
excellent. In interpreting these date, means > 3.5 are considered to be very positive, 2.6 - 3.4 are
adequate, and < 2.5 indicating substantial dissatisfaction with the course.
Evaluation Topic
Learning Objectives
Organization of the Course
Syllabus as a Learning Resource
Course Web Resources
Use of Appropriate Clinical
Correlations
Range of scores for Lectures
Lectures Overall
Review Lectures
Gross Demonstration
Range of scores for Case
Conferences
Case Conferences as a Learning
Experience
Availability and Responsiveness
of Course Director
Exams
Course Overall
2012
4.24
3.96
4.32
3.98
4.43
2103
4.25
3.92
4.15
4.00
4.36
3.54 - 4.62
4.15
4.46, 3.70
4.01
4.16 - 4.22
3.43 - 4.56
4.06
4.54, 3.48
3.75
4.08 - 4.21
4.11
4.09
4.62
4.55
4.12
4.30
3.95
4.18
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Academic Year 2012-2013
Identify major successes in the course and problems to be overcome (see instruction page)
The Renal System course is the first of the organ-based courses taken by the students and is highly
rated by them every year. A major success of the course is the robust curriculum that not only
provides the students with a foundation of renal knowledge but also helps them organize their
thought processes and study techniques to do well in the subsequent organ system courses.
Student feedback routinely identifies the complexity of the glomerular and tubulointerstitial
diseases as a particular learning challenge. Efforts to aid the students with these difficult disease
syndromes incorporated into the course for 2013 included reorganization of the lectures to provide
2 innovative combined pathology and clinical lectures on the nephrotic and nephritic diseases as
well as a new self-study module on tubulointerstital diseases. These were well received by the class.
Further efforts for 2014 will be made to improve the tubulointerstital disease lecture.
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Required Course Form
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
LCME Medical Education Database 2014-2015
Academic Year 2012-2013
Required Course Form